Work support



061. 14, 1941. MAWBEY 2,258,711

WORK SUPPORT Filed June 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 14, 1941.

L. MAWBEY WORK SUPPORT Filed June 25, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Egg WM Z222Patented Oct. 14, 1941 2,258,711 WoRK SUPPORT Lawrence Mawbey,Leicester, England, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation,Borough of Flemington, N. J., a corporation ofNew Jersey ApplicationJune 25, 1940, Serial No. 342,304 In Great Britain February 22, 1940 12Claims.

This invention relates to means for supporting work pieces which are tobe operated upon and is illustrated as embodied in a machine forapplying pressure to a seam ridge formed by joining two or more piecesof material such as parts of shoe uppers although it is to be understoodthat the invention is not limited to such application.

In machines of this type it is desirable that the pressure applied tothe work be a yielding pressure to prevent damage to the work and thismay be accomplished by providing a yielding mounting for the worksupport. In order to accommodate difierent types of work, it isdesirable that provision be made for varying the forces exerted by theyielding mountingwhich opposes movement of the support away from theoperating means.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a worksupport'having an improved yielding mounting, the effectiveness of whichmay be easily adjusted to vary the force resisting the pressure appliedthereto through a work piece resting on the support.

To this end and asla feature of the invention, a' pair of springs ofunequal size are arranged to oppose downward movement of the worksupport and means are provided to vary the relative effectiveness of thesprings on the support. These springs in the illustrated arrangement arearranged to act on a bar which transmits the force exerted by thesprings to'a pivoted arm one end of which is in contact with the bar andmay be moved therealong between the points of applications of thesprings. The force exerted on the arm through the bar varies with thepoint of contact between thebar and the arm by reason of the unequalforces exerted by' the springs and this arm in turn transmits the forceto the work support to resiliently oppose movement thereof by pressureapplied to the support through a work piece thereon.

These and other features of the invention will now be described indetail in the specification and illustrated in the drawings, in whichFig. 1 is an end elevation, partly in section, of one form of machine inwhich the invention may be embodied;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation, partly in'section, of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line III-III of Fig. 2; and v Fig. 4is a horizontal section on the line IVIV of Fig. 3.

The illustrated seam-rubbing machine com- 55 prises a frame having abase E0 in which is pivotally mounted at ii a housing [4. The housing itslidably supports a post It carrying at its upper end a freely rotatableroll IQ for supporting thework to be operated upon. A verticallyadjustable guide plate 20 is secured to the post It by a screw 22, thisguide plate being arranged to engage the seam of a work piece.

The machine also includes a head 2% in which is mounted a work presseror hammer 26 and a seam-rubbing tool 28, these members being operatedWith a four-motion cycle by an eccentric 30 ina well known mannersuccessively to hammer the seam and set or rub it. A pair f of guides 32are arranged to engage opposite sides of the seam ridge and are mountedfor independent yielding movement to accommodate variations in thicknessof the material being operated upon. These guides are formed at thelower ends of bell crank levers pivoted at 36 within a sleeve member 38secured to a slidable post 40 guided by bearings 42 in the head of themachine. The post 40 is urged downwardly by a spring 44 acting betweenthe upper bearing 42 and a collar 66 secured to the post. Downwardmovement of the post is limited by an extension 4'! (Fig. 2) of thesleeve 38 engaging the head of a screw 49 threaded into a bracketsupoprting the lower bearing member 42.

The guides 32 are urged inwardly by a plate 56 engaging the upper armsof the bell crank levers on which the guides are formed, this platebeing urged downwardly by a spring 52' the upper end of which engagesthe lower end of a rod 54 slidably mounted within a vertical bore in thepost 40; The upper end of the rod 54 (Fig. 1) is engaged by an arm of abell crank lever 56 pivoted at 58 to a bracket 60 secured to the head ofthe machine, the vertical arm of the bell crank lever 56 being threadedto receive an adjusting screw 62 the inner end of which engages adepending lug 64 of the bracket 60; Accordingly, the force exerted bythe spring 52 to urge the guides 32 inwardly may be readily adjusted bythe screw 62.

A gage 66 secured by a screw 68 to the sleeve 38 extends between theguide members 32 to engage the upper face of the seam ridge. A hingedcover ll] encloses the driving'mechanism in the head 24, this coverbeing maintained closed by a spring-pressed latch 12. r

I The housing [4 in which the supporting post I6 is slidably mounted isnormally held in vertical position by a latch 14 urged into engagementwith the lower surface of a shoulder I6 of the housing I4 by a springI8. Upon moving the latch I4 out of engagement with the shoulder I6, thehousing I4 will tilt by gravity in a clockwise direction as viewed inFig. 1 about the pivot I2 to a position in which the shoulder I6contacts a resilient bumper 80 secured in the base I of the machine.This permits movement of the supporting roll I8 toward the operator andfrom under the operating members carried by the head of the machine,whenever desired, to permit access to the operating parts of themachine, etc. l H

The lower end of the supportingtpost I6; bears against the head of ascrew 82 (Fig. 22) secured to a horizontally extending arm of a lever 84fulcrumed at 86 between a pair of arms 88(2):;

tending downwardly from the housing I 4. The

lever 84 has an extension 90 (Fig. 2) extending downwardly from thepivot 86 and carrying a Pi P 92 e ndi g h r zon a ly a a ri h n l h1313/0586; A er qally exten n 54 is p v Q ih Pi 9? and orms a f thelever 84. v The arm 94 is arranged to be acted po by a Pa of s i s B andsh n a compression springs to move the lever 84, a clockwise direction,as viewed Fig. 2, thus exertieg upward i ie en h P t 5- T e springs 06and 98' act in a direction parallel to the pin 02 upon which the arm 94is pivoted so that they exert no force tending to rotate the arm 94about the pin 92. v e

The springs 96 and S8 are supported in horizontal bores in the lowerendof the housing I4 and act on plungers I00 and H12, respectively,these plungers carrying at their outer end a bar I04 Movement oftheplungers I00 and I02 toward the arm 94is limited 'by'nuts I06 secured tothe inner ends of the plun'gers and engaging the outside of thelower'portion of thehousing I4. The vertically extending arm 94 has, ahear ing member'I08, which engages the adjacent surface of the bar I04at ya'rio'us''pointsfalong the bar depe'ndin'g upon the, position of"the arm 04 relative to its supporting pin 92. The arm 04 is held againstaccidental displacement from various positions relativert otheban't04'by a spring- 1 detent 'I'Ill (Figfzj arrangedto engage oneofaplurality of recesses H2. The movement of the arm '94 "about the pin 92is limited by projections H4 and H6 (Fig; 3 the projection III beingarranged to engage the lower end of the arm 90 of the lever 84 and theprojection II6 being arranged to engage the lower surface of one of thearms88'of the" housing I4 As indicated in Fig. 4, the wires of which thesprings 96 and 98 are madefare or differentthicknesses the spring 96being relatively weak com-, pared to the spring 03 so that the forcesexerted by these springs through the bar I04 to thearm 9 4 areconsiderably di'iierent. Accordingly, the force transmitted through thebar I04by' the springs 06 and 96 to the arm 94 will vary accordance withthe point of contact or the bearing member I08 carried by the arm 04with the bar. Thus if the arm 64 be moved; toward; the right s viewed.in F s. 3 n 19. oward, th plu c e c pen b he. heav rinsfih the effect ofthis spring on the arm Qiwill; be. increased while the arm will bedecreased,- The net result is that a greater force is transmitted by thesprings to the arm 94, this force being transmitted through the levertito the supporting post It'so that a greater force'must be exerted onthe, roll; I8 to presse he efie t o e l t. pr n:

cause downward movement thereof. The arm 94 has a finger piece I20extending upwardly through the base of the machine by which the positionof the arm 94 relative to the bar I04 may be easily adjusted by theoperator, this adjustment varying the force exerted on the supportingpost I6: The tep of the base I0 is provided with a. plate I22 adjacentto the finger piece I20, this plate having suitable indicia to indicatethe force exerted on the supporting post.

The upward movement of the post I6 by the springs 96 and 98 is limitedby a bracket I24 (Fig. 1) securedto the post I6 by screws I26 andarrangedito engage the lower end of a stop screw I28 threaded throughthe upper end of the housing I4.

In order to permit downward movement of the roll i8 for presentation ofwork to the machine without tilting the supporting housing I4 about thepivot I2, a chain I30 is secured to the outer 9d, Q fih y??? and may bse ur at its other to a treadle whereby the operator may meye the leverdownwardly against'the forces exerted by the springs 96 and 98to permitthe post I6 to move downwardly by gravity, thus in--. creasing thespacing between the roll I8 and the operating members With theconstruction above described, the force opposing downward movement ofthe post I6 is very easily adjusted by moving the arm 94 through thefinger piece I20 about its supporting pin 92 to vary the point oicontact b tween the member I08- carried by the arm 94 and the bar I04.With arrangement the force exerted on the supporting post may be'v'ariedbetween the force exerted by the light spring 96, and that exerted bythe heavy. spring 98. This adjustment is easily and quickly made and theamount of force acting upwardly on the post I6 may. be ascertained bythe position oi the finger piece I20 relative to the indicia in theplate I22.

Having thus described my. invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In combination, a work support, means providing a yielding mountingfor said work support, said means comprisinga plurality of springsarranged to exert unequal forces, and single means for varying therelative efiectiveness of aid sii i s 2. In combination, a work support,means pro-. viding a yielding mounting for said work support, saidnieanscomprising a pair of springs of different strength, and singlemeans for varying the relative efiectiveness oi said springs.

n omb a i n. a l mo b e w k support, a lever against one end or whichthe lower end 0; the support rests, a pair of compression springs actingagainst the opposite end of said lever, said springs being arranged to,exert d fifi m pi fi Q 5. 1 and m n simultaneouslyvarying the efiectofsaidsprin S; n aid. e

in omb at on, a t cal y movable work 9199% a ever a a nst n h eh. he0K?! ende 'bhe SPPBOXUWF r he othe a m of a d nev r e n pi ted, ereto: an a s-ri h angles to the axis of the fulcrurn'qf-gsaid lever, pair pr sanged; sir a' r side' ai springs being arranged to exert unequal foreesnd ar be ween aid th r arm of a d leve and the adjacent ends of saidsprings for t tansm t g the forc s e e ed by saidspr as toqsai lever.

I com ina ipnl a ertica y movable Wor support, a lever pivoted about ahorizontal axis, said work support resting on one arm of said lever, theother arm of said lever being pivoted thereto about an axis at rightangles to the axis of the fulcrum of said lever, a bar parallel to theaxis of the fulcrum of said lever and arranged to be engaged at any oneof a plurality of points along the length thereof by the outer end ofthe other arm of said lever, and a pair of springs acting againstopposite ends of said bar, one of said springs being relatively strongand the other being relatively weak.

6. In combination, a vertically movable work support, a bell crank leverpivoted about a horizontal axis and having a horizontally extending armunderlying the lower end of said work support, the other arm of saidbell crank lever extending upward and being pivoted to said lever abouta horizontal axis at right angles to the axis of the fulcrum of saidlever, the lower end of said upwardly extending arm being provided withstops .to limit the pivotal movement of said upwardly extending armrelative to the other arm of the lever, and means for opposing rotationof said bell crank lever constructed and arranged to exert a forcevarying with the pivotal movement of the upwardly extending arm.

'7. In combination, a vertically movable work support, a bell cranklever pivoted about a horizontal axis and having a horizontallyextending arm underlying the lower end of said work support, the otherarm of said bell crank lever extending upward and being pivoted about ahorizontal axis at right angles to the axis of the fulcrum of saidlever, the lower end of said upwardly extending arm being provided withstops to limit the pivotal movement thereof, a horizontally extendingbar parallel to the axis of the fulcrum of said lever with which theupper end of the upwardly extending arm of the lever is arranged toengage, a pair. of compression springs acting against opposite ends ofsaid bar and urging said bell crank lever in a direction to opposedownward movement of said work support, said springs being arranged toexert unequal forces on said bar, and means cooperating with theupwardly extending arm of said bell crank lever for maintaining theupper end thereof in various positions relative to said bar.

8. In combination, a pair of coiled compression springs arranged side byside, said springs being of difierent compression strength, a baragainst the outer ends of which said springs act, an arm bearing againstsaid bar for transmitting the forces exerted by said springs on saidbar, said arm being arranged to bear against any one of a plurality ofpoints on said bar along the length thereof.

9. In combination, a pair of coiled compression springs arranged side byside, one of said springs being stronger than the other, a bar connectedat its ends to the outer ends of said springs,

an arm pivoted about an axis substantially parallel to the axes of saidsprings, the outer end of said arm being arranged to engage said bar,said arm being also pivoted about an axis substantially parallel to saidbar.

10. In a seam-rubbing machine, a work-supporting roll, instrumentalitieslocated above said roll for operating upon the seam of a work piecesupported on the roll, a vertically slidable post supporting said roll,a pair of springs of different strength acting on said post to opposedownward movement of the roll, and means for simultaneously varying theeffectiveness of said springs on said post.

11. In a seam-rubbing machine, a work-supporting roll, instrumentalitieslocated above said roll for operating upon the seam of a Work piecesupported on the roll, a vertically slidable post supporting said roll,a lever pivoted about a horizontal axis, one arm of said leverunderlying said post, said lever including an arm pivoted about an axisat right angles to the axis of said lever, a pair of compression springsof different strength parallel to the pivotal axis of said lastnamedarm, and a bar connected to the outer ends of said springs andtransmitting the forces exerted thereby to' the outer end of saidlastnamed arm.

12. In a seam-rubbing machine, a work-supporting roll, instrumentalitieslocated above said roll for operating upon the seam of a work piecesupported on the roll, a vertically slidable post supporting said roll,a lever pivoted about a horizontal axis, one arm of said leverunderlying said post, said lever including an arm pivoted about an axisat right angles to the axis of said lever, a pair of compression springsof difierent strength parallel to the pivotal axis of said lastnamedarm, a bar connected to the outer ends of said springs and transmittingthe forces exerted thereby to the outer end of said lastnamed arm, andmeans cooperating with said last-named arm for maintaining the arm inany one of several different positions relative to said bar.

LAWRENCE MAWBEY.

